The arrests on Thursday of a dozen people in Ottawa believed to be involved in the trafficking of illicit opioids, coupled with the spike in recent years of drug overdose deaths in this city, underscores the need for greater public awareness, says Ottawa Public Health’s manager of clinical programs.

“We follow what’s happening across Canada — in Vancouver and Alberta — where they’re seeing large increases in people dying from opioid overdoses,” said Andrew Hendriks.

In Ottawa in 2015, there were 48 deaths from unintentional drug overdoses, a jump of 32 per cent over the previous year (the rest of Ontario saw just a six per cent increase in the same period). Of the 48 Ottawa deaths, 29 were the result of opioid use, of which 14 were attributable to fentanyl.

According to Hendriks, the increase in opioid overdoses here is a direct result of counterfeit prescription drugs making their way into circulation. On Monday, Ottawa Public Health and Ottawa Police Service issued an alert warning residents of counterfeit prescription drugs in the area. Many of these are manufactured to look and taste exactly like OxyContin and Percocet and are believed to contain the opioid fentanyl.

“The more that these counterfeit pills are being mixed with fentanyl, the more overdose deaths we’re predicting will take place,” says Hendriks. “The chance of overdosing when there’s fentanyl involved is much higher.”

Additionally, carfentanil, a veterinary opioid used in such large animals as elephants and considered to be 100 times as toxic as fentanyl, may be headed our way. In the latter months of 2016, carfentanil was responsible for the deaths of at least 15 Albertans, after first surfacing in Canada in September, in Vancouver.

According to Hendriks, just three grains of carfentanil are enough for a person to fatally overdose. So far, there have been no carfentanil-related deaths reported in Ottawa, but, Hendriks warns, “it sounds like it’s moving more east.”

Ottawa Public Health, meanwhile, has been involved in school programs with all four area boards. Partnering with such organizations as Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services, Maison Fraternité drug addiction and treatment centre, and the Royal Hospital’s Early Intervention Program, they provide a range of services including increasing awareness surrounding substance use and abuse, substance abuse prevention and intervention. In the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, these services begin at Grade 7. In the Ottawa Catholic School Board, school-based programs with Rideauwood are run at the high school level.

“In the last school year,” says Hendriks, “we saw over 4,000 high school students, and 8,000 Grade 7 and 8 students. And 3,000 parents were also involved.”

Ontario’s school curriculum addresses the use of legal and illegal substances in Grade 3, tobacco in Grade 4, alcohol in Grade 5 and cannabis and other illicit drugs in Grade 6.

Ottawa Public Health’s website, meanwhile, offers a great deal of information about drug and overdose awareness, with particular attention paid to fentanyl, carfentanil and other opioids. It also includes tips for those unwilling to abstain.

Officials hope, too, that more people, whether users or their friends and families, will access free kits that contain naloxone, an opioid antidote. They’re available at pharmacies and through Ottawa Public Health.

The nearly 50 deaths in Ottawa in 2015, meanwhile, should put to rest any notion that overdoses are the domain of the young. Ottawa residents in their 50s accounted for 18, or 37 per cent, of the deaths, exactly twice that of thirtysomethings, the next largest cohort. Residents in their 20s accounted for six, or 12 per cent, while only one death was of someone under 20. The remaining 14 deaths were split evenly between those in their 40s and those 60 and older.

“Working in schools help us with the 10- to 19-year-olds,” says Hendriks, “but the 20- to 29-year-olds and the 30- to 39-year-olds, we need a different approach, so we work with universities and colleges, like during frosh week.

“And with the 60 plus year-olds, you’re into a world where people are dealing with chronic pain, and you might have issues where they’re taking multiple pills and they don’t always interact well.

“So every age population has different reasons why we want to approach them, and they need different approaches. So we’re all over social media, making people more aware.”

Officials warn of rising deaths in Ottawa from counterfeit drugs

The arrests on Thursday of a dozen people in Ottawa believed to be involved in the trafficking of illicit opioids, coupled with the spike in recent years of drug overdose deaths in this city, underscores the need for greater public awareness, says Ottawa Public Health’s manager of clinical programs.

“We follow what’s happening across Canada — in Vancouver and Alberta — where they’re seeing large increases in people dying from opioid overdoses,” said Andrew Hendriks.

In Ottawa in 2015, there were 48 deaths from unintentional drug overdoses, a jump of 32 per cent over the previous year (the rest of Ontario saw just a six per cent increase in the same period). Of the 48 Ottawa deaths, 29 were the result of opioid use, of which 14 were attributable to fentanyl.

According to Hendriks, the increase in opioid overdoses here is a direct result of counterfeit prescription drugs making their way into circulation.